“Is Latin America moving towards a ‘post-neoliberal’ water politics?”
Location: International Centre for Higher Studies in Communication for Latin America (CIESPAL) and Yaku Water Museum
Time/Date: 14th October 2013 - 18th October 2013
Date: 14-18 October 2013
Venue: International Centre for Higher Studies in Communication for Latin America (CIESPAL) and Yaku Water Museum
Note: This meeting will be conducted in Spanish/Portuguese
Ecuador is right now a key place for the study of some of the most recent initiatives taken to reconsider the role of the State in the government and management of water. The process leading to the new Constitution in 2008 recognized the right to water, limited the participation of private enterprise in the provision of water services, re-established public companies, created a single national water authority, and recognized community water management arrangements and the rights of nature. Ecuador has also headed the rejection of international arbitration for disputes between private companies and national states and some of the proposals for regional integration within the framework of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), which has its headquarters in Quito. What kind of balance can we make in 2013 concerning these initiatives, which have been termed ‘post-neoliberal’? What challenges and advances can we identify? How do these initiatives compare with others in the region? What kind of theoretical and methodological challenges we face for the study of these processes?
Topics that will be addressed at the meeting
With the objective of strengthening the debate about the challenges that these transformations are posing for the development of post-neoliberal water politics we decided to focus our meeting on the following issues:
1. Are we moving towards a post-neoliberal hydrosocial metabolism in Latin America?
2. Tensions and contradictions of the post-neoliberal capitalist state
3. Recovering and defending the public role in the provision of essential water services (drinking water, sanitation, drainage, etc.).
4. X-disciplinarity in research and action to democratize water government and management
Preliminary programme
On Monday 14 we will have a joint meeting of the WATERLAT network and the Water Justice Alliance. This meeting will feature round tables and activities directed at promoting greater interaction between members of both networks.
On 15-17 October we will concentrate the activities of the open meeting of the WATERLAT network, which will include a special conference, paper sessions, workshops, round tables, and a public hearing. For those people interested in participating in our meeting with presentation of papers or other activities, please contact the programme Secretary. Participation in our meeting is free of charge.
The Meeting is an activity of the WATERLAT Network. It is co-organized by the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, and the Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability (NIReS), Newcastle University, UK, and the Institute of Higher National Studies (IAEN), Ecuador.
The organization of the event is supported by the International Centre for Higher Studies in Communication for Latin America (CIESPAL) and Yaku Water Museum, Ecuador.
Published: 28th June 2013